Plans to move the city’s indoor bowls facilities at a cost of £2 million were accepted at a council meeting despite a request for a deferral branded as “political points scoring” by the Labour council.

Councillors voted in favour of the move, rejecting an amendment from the Conservative party to defer the decision to give local residents the chance to voice concerns over the new site’s impact on the community.

Speaking about the plans at Tuesday’s meeting, Councillor Kamran Caan, cabinet member for public health and sport, said: “I think this is a feasible project and it’s part of our long-term strategy to support this sport.

“With the closure of facilities at the city centre leisure centre it would mean a lot of our bowling members would have to travel outside the city, which would not support our public health strategy, our sports strategy or the people of Coventry.

“We will continue to work with the local community on this project and ensure that it is delivered in a timely manner and that it works for everybody.”

Conservative councillor Roger Bailey put forward a request to defer the decision for a month whilst a consultation with local residents took place, but the council voted against the motion.

Ariel view of the existing bowls club on Gaveston Road

He said: “There are a lot of concerns from local residents about the impact this might have. The issue here is that residents haven’t been consulted. If they are consulted at an early stage then they can help shape this development.”

The opposition party was accused of trying to score “political points” by councillors in favour of the plans.

Councillor Damion Gannon described the proposed amendment as “the worst sort of mischief making and gesture politics we’ve seen from the opposition party in a long time”.

He continued: “This is purely designed to try and score political points out of local concerns about this proposal.

“The project team hasn’t even been appointed yet. We’re very far from this going to planning and when it does we will make sure that local residents’ views are heard.”

An example of what the redeveloped bowling club could look like

Councillor Gary Ridley, leader of the Coventry Conservatives, claims the council have ‘rushed ahead’ with the plans, missing out on an opportunity to consult with the community.

He told the Telegraph: “When you look at this you’re talking about taking a relatively sleepy bowling club, that people are currently happy with, and making a substantial change without talking to the people that live there.

“We wanted to defer consideration until we can have that consultation with the local community and hear their concerns.

“The existing facilities have on average 11,000 visitors a year - so is this the right site? We don’t yet know what kind of impact it could have in terms of things like parking, access and transport on the local community.

“The council have rushed ahead in haste, and they haven’t taken these things into consideration at all.

“People are already angry. When this goes through the planning committee, they will be putting forward some forceful arguments and the council have missed out on an opportunity to talk to the community about their concerns early on.

“This is exactly the kind of thing that has a real impact on people’s every day lives.”